More than 1,600 graduate nurses will not ease the pressure on NSW public hospitals but simply place a burden on existing staff, the opposition says.The NSW government has announced a record 1,618 registered nurses will enter the public health system from January 14 after graduating from university.The largest group of new graduates, 128, will go to Sydney’s troubled Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH).A parliamentary inquiry into the hospital, sparked by allegations surrounding a woman’s miscarriage in an emergency department toilet on September 25, recommended recruiting more nurses and opening extra beds at the facility.But NSW opposition health spokeswoman Jillian Skinner said experienced nurses were needed, not new graduates.“These 128 new graduates will only add to the pressure on the existing hospital staff,” she told reporters.“They need experienced staff to help train them.“It’s like putting a hundred extra kids in a school without putting any more teachers in place.”NSW Premier Morris Iemma said 78 of the 100 nursing vacancies identified at RNSH had been filled in October, with only 22 of those positions going to graduates.He said an extra 8,000 nurses and midwives had entered the public hospital system as a whole since 2002.Mr Iemma, in making Thursday’s announcement at RNSH, said the latest crop of nurse graduates came at a time of great demand in public hospitals.“We’ve taken a number of small steps to address the issues here at Royal North Shore, as well as to improve health services across the state,” he told reporters.Ms Skinner also took aim at the government over the retention of nurses, after Mr Iemma said around 11 per cent left the profession each year.

She said new graduates needed experienced nurse mentors and educators to help them adjust to the pressure of work on the wards. Read more